"I moved to Austin for college and really loved it. It was a place where there was an arcade that was open 24 hours a day. There were buses going by, and a million people around. And I loved seeing cultures that I just didn’t see in Temple. Right around this time, I started looking into Public Enemy and I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X twice and, well, my eyes were opened quite a bit. There were black people in Temple, but, for instance, at my high school there was a big parking lot, and there was a divider that divided one third of the lot from the other two thirds, though not with any intention, I don’t think. It was just there. But most of the black people in my school parked on that small third, and everybody referred to that parking lot as “Africa.” That didn’t strike me as fucked up in high school, but after reading Malcolm X and listening to Public Enemy, I felt a real drive for there to be more justice and equality. For me, it’s very easy to feel spiritually connected to the underdog and the oppressed. Chuck D is a hero."

"The second piece in this heartfelt and raw book of essays is titled “Not Just for Grandmas.” Okun means it facetiously, but the title really hit home for me. Knitting wasn’t something the cool kids were doing in high-school. Knitting was an activity reserved for Grandmothers and the like, but suddenly here was a book of essays that spoke to the anxiety prone — myself included — looking to exert a little control over the crazy world around us."